In the course of the summer, the authorities approved the sale of all Statoil offshore holdings on the Norwegian continental shelf embraced by the Pandora sales project.
This means that the purchasing companies have been approved as partners in the relevant licences and as players on the Norwegian continental shelf. They have now formally taken over responsibility for their shares, and Statoil has withdrawn from the licences.
The sale covers shares in six fields. Statoil has sold all of its holdings in the Tommeliten, Grane, Jotun and Freja fields in the North Sea, as well as the Njord field in the Norwegian Sea. The group has sold 12 per cent of its stake in the Snøhvit field in the Barents Sea. As operator for the field, Statoil now has a share of 22,29 per cent.
Gaz de France has entered the Norwegian continental shelf for the first time through the Pandora project. The company is licensee in Snøhvit and Njord.
The other transactions were with Conoco, which has bought holdings in Grane, and Phillips, which has taken over operatorship and holdings in Tommeliten. Det norske oljeselskap (DNO) has bought shares in Jotun, and Dansk Olie og Naturgass (Dong) has taken over holdings in the Freja field.